The Future Is Here: Why The North Flag/Northflag Is So Important For Tudor Once Again
Almost nobody liked the Tudor North Flag. Still, in 2015, the watch marked an important moment in Tudor’s history. Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf started the brand in 1926, stating the following: “I decided to form a separate company with the object of making and marketing a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet could attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous.” To achieve this lower price point, Wilsdorf intentionally outfitted Tudor watches with off-the-shelf movements and high-quality Rolex cases and bracelets. The North Flag was the first Tudor watch featuring an in-house movement. But as I said, it wasn’t popular, so it was discontinued after just six years. This month, we saw the launch of the Northflag, and this is an important watch for another reason.
When Tudor launched the North Flag during the 2015 edition of Baselworld, it didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome. Although historically significant as Tudor’s first creation with an in-house movement (the automatic MT5621), the watch’s looks were met with skepticism. And that overshadowed the watch’s strategic significance. Tudor’s move away from its long-standing reliance on third-party movements was huge. This move was part of a broader strategy that included co-founding Kenissi, a Swiss movement manufacturer established to develop and produce modern mechanical calibers for Tudor and other brands. But you don’t wear a strategy; you wear a watch, and the North Flag was a bit of an oddball, especially in a lineup in which retro ruled the roost.
The new Northflag (GMT) next to the 2015 North Flag
Why the North Flag/Northflag is so important for Tudor once again
Five years before the North Flag debuted, Tudor launched the Heritage Chrono (ref. M70330N). This was 40 years after the introduction of the famous “Monte Carlo” ref. 7033 chronograph, and the name “Heritage” signaled the importance of reviving vintage designs. In 2012, the Black Bay with its burgundy bezel, matte black dial, and gold detailing debuted, as did the much more instrumental, clean-looking Pelagos. The Black Bay is the uncrowned king of the House of Tudor and a leader of the retro trend, while the Pelagos is a contemporary watch with technical features suited to its purpose. It has a much more introverted design language than the Black Bay, and although the dials and hands hint at vintage Submariner references, like the 7016 and 7021, the Pelagos is a thoroughly modern watch.
The 2026 Northflag next to the Ranger II
The 2015 North Flag was the next contemporary creation, and it came equipped with Tudor’s first in-house caliber. It was not an entirely new design since it was loosely based on the 1973 Ranger II, but it also wasn’t retro. That’s because it didn’t play the nostalgia card. It didn’t want you to remember something. The 2015 North Flag, with its instrumental black dial, yellow seconds hand, power reserve indicator, and clean white indexes and numerals, was a form-follows-function creation. The brushed steel watch had a distinct aesthetic, a no-nonsense dignity that became a design feature in its own right. In other words, Tudor expressed that it was no longer content to be known simply for offering Rolex DNA at a lower price. And the brand started to build some of that identity inside the case as well.
The spell checker doesn’t like the new name
As I wrote, almost nobody liked the North Flag, and the secondary-market prices reflected that. The various Black Bay iterations completely overshadowed the more modern adventurer’s watch, and after six years in production, it was axed. Five years later, the watch that put Tudor on the map as a movement maker returns. It’s now a GMT, and the name has changed from North Flag to Northflag. Not only is that weird, but it’s also annoying because the spell checker doesn’t like that name at all. Still, the Northflag (M9140G1A0U-0001) is another milestone.
The foundation of the new Northflag (€5,100) is a watch that was never the most popular in the lineup, and it’s not the 1973 Ranger II, although the hour markers and hands bear a resemblance. The watch has a 40mm stainless steel case with a 12.7mm thickness and a 48.8mm lug-to-lug, featuring satin-brushed and polished surfaces, a fixed stainless steel bezel, and an integrated H-link bracelet. The Northflag looks like a logical evolution of the North Flag, and it is another landmark.
Ready for the future
The Northflag is a Tudor based on one from 11 years ago, which was, in turn, based on another Tudor watch from way back. The outcome is a contemporary timepiece that doesn’t remind you of the brand’s close relationship with Rolex. It is unapologetically Tudor, and inside the watch beats the in-house MT5652-U caliber. This automatic GMT movement ticks at 4 Hz, provides a 65-hour power reserve, and uses a variable-inertia balance and a silicon balance spring. The caliber also carries both COSC and METAS certifications, with the latter specifying an accuracy tolerance of 0/+5 seconds per day and resistance to magnetic fields of up to 15,000 gauss.
It seems that Tudor is once again testing the waters to see if the market is ready for something that’s 100% Tudor and nothing else. Why is the brand doing this with a new version of a watch that wasn’t the biggest success? Maybe it’s because Tudor wants to give the watch fans a chance to admit they were wrong. A slightly more plausible theory is that the company has analyzed the market thoroughly and concluded that the retro trend is on its way out, while demand for more contemporary styles is increasing. The Northflag is, in terms of technology and design, a strong expression of Tudor identity, and that Rolex-free character is now strong enough to attract consumers.
Fool me once…
The new Northflag might very well be the first of a stream of new creations with subtle hints to the past but a forward-looking attitude. However, if Tudor’s wrong, and the Northflag doesn’t persuade the crowd that new is cool and retro isn’t, it could prove a case of “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” The watch feels like the brand is ready to start a new chapter in which Tudor and nothing but Tudor is the protagonist.
Do you think the Northflag will be a hit and the first of many original Tudor creations in the near future? Please let me know in the comments below.
